With the advent of laser technology being used in connection with surgery, the application of the laser to a wide variety of surgical procedures has evolved.
By strategically placing the laser adjacent to a number of different operating rooms within a maximum distance of approximately 65 feet, and the use of a fiber optic cord, the same laser may be used for entirely different types of surgery, requiring different surgical procedures and set-ups, and necessitating different types of operating room facilities.
The present state of the art utilizes hand held units for each type of surgery for which the laser source is used. Since oftentimes these units cannot be autoclaved and must be disposed of following the surgical procedure, this increases the cost of the use of the laser considerably.